NORFOLK, Va., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Virginia officials are re-examining a bevy of state and federal voting laws that threaten to invalidate absentee votes being cast by Virginians overseas.
The review by the State Board of Elections and state Attorney General Bob McDonnell's office comes after calls from some Republicans to count all votes submitted using a federal write-in absentee ballot, the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.
"Every eligible vote will be counted," said McDonnell spokesman David Clementson.
At the center of the controversy is a state requirement that completed federal ballots provide both the name and address of a witness to the absentee vote unless the voter has also requested a separate, state-furnished ballot.
But the federal form does not provide a space for the address and does not specify which states, such as Virginia, require it, the newspaper reported.
Former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, a supporter of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, has said federal law should "trump" a state statute.
